Cooler April conditions await teams as they arrive in Baku for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the first race in four weeks.
The seventh grand prix to be held around the Baku street circuit, this weekend’s race will be the third time that it will take place in April instead of June, when the majority of races in the Eastern European nation have typically been scheduled.
Unlike the Australian Grand Prix weekend in Melbourne, there is little risk of rain affecting the first of six sprint race weekends on the 2023 F1 calendar.
The opening day of the weekend on Friday is set to be coolest, with cloudy skies in the morning giving way to clearer, sunnier conditions for qualifying that afternoon.
Saturday morning is currently scheduled to host the second hour of practice for the weekend, which should take place in cloudy conditions. The sprint race will be run with overcast skies, although ambient temperatures should reach their highest of the weekend with a top of 23C.
The grand prix on Sunday will again take place in cloudy conditions with temperatures hovering around 20C. A moderate southerly wind should blow over the city, making a crosswind along the long back straight on the circuit.
There is a very low risk of potential rain arriving on Sunday evening, although it is most likely to not appear before the end of the race which should be completed before 5pm local time.
The expected conditions make this weekend comparable to the previous seasons where the Baku race was held in April. Last year’s event took place in June with far higher temperatures, meaning that track temperatures for this weekend’s race could be as much as 20 degrees lower than they would otherwise be if held during June.
NB. This race was called the European Grand Prix in 2016. The 2020 race was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic
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